Where Dolphins stack up in metric site’s ranking of players by position. And Fins buzz

Popular web site Pro Football Focus has been identifying the top 32 players at every position this offseason.

Here’s where several Dolphins were ranked:

▪ PFF ranks Will Fuller as the NFL’s 25th-best receiver and DeVante Parker 27th, with Houston’s Brandin Cooks in between.

PFF says Fuller is “a genuine speedster who has proven to be one of the most dangerous deep threats at the position when healthy. Over 26% of his targets since 2018 have resulted in a 15-plus-yard gain, the eighth-highest percentage among wide receivers over that span.

“Despite missing significant time in each of those three seasons, Fuller came in at No. 8 in total receiving yards on vertical targets where he had separation on his coverage defender. [Fuller] on the field alongside Jaylen Waddle is a scary thought.”

And PFF notes Parker “revitalized his career in 2018 and 2019, earning the best season grades among his six NFL campaigns. He ranks 23rd in receiving grade over the past two seasons, churning out 55 explosive receptions of 15-plus yards [tied for seventh] and 43 contested catches [second] in the process. Parker accomplished that while seeing the third-highest rate of snaps against press coverage [45.6%]. He leads the league in 15-plus-yard pass plays against press coverage since 2019 [32].”

▪ Incidentally, PFF rated Fuller as the NFL’s fourth-best deep threat, behind only Kansas City’s Tyreek Hill, Seattle’s DK Metcalf and the New York Giants’ Kenny Golladay.

PFF noted that Fuller “hasn’t even played two full regular seasons worth of games over the past three seasons, and yet, he is still tied for third in total deep touchdowns where he had a step or more of separation [seven] in that span. Fuller has racked up 17.3 yards per deep target since 2018, tying for the second-best mark.”

▪ PFF rated Xavien Howard the No. 4 cornerback, behind Green Bay’s Jaire Alexander, the Rams’ Jalen Ramsey and Baltimore’s Marlon Humphrey.

PFF said Howard “is one of the best playmaking cornerbacks that the NFL has to offer. Since entering the league in 2016, 18.7% of his targets in coverage have resulted in a pass breakup or interception, leading all cornerbacks who have been targeted at least 150 times over those five years.”

PFF rates Byron Jones 16th among cornerbacks, noting “Jones matched his interception total across the first five seasons of his career last year with Miami, but it was his worst season from a production allowed standpoint since making the switch to cornerback in 2018. Jones allowed 1.4 yards per coverage snap with Miami in 2020 — double his 0.7 yards per coverage snap average across the 2018 and 2019 seasons in Dallas.

“He battled injuries early in the season, which didn’t help in the adjustment to a man-heavy coverage scheme under Brian Flores. The hope for Miami will be that he gets back toward the player who earned a five-year, $82.5 million contract last offseason.”

▪ PFF ranks Mike Gesicki the No. 8 tight end, behind Kansas City’s Travis Kelce, San Francisco’s George Kittle, Las Vegas’ Darren Waller, Atlanta rookie Kyle Pitts, Philadelphia’s Dallas Goedert, Baltimore’s Mark Andrews and Detroit’s T.J. Hockenson.

PFF notes Gesicki’s “PFF grade has risen from 50.2 as a rookie in 2018 to 78.1 this past year. Gesicki has done the majority of his damage in the slot for the Dolphins. He is the only tight end in the NFL with over 500 routes run from the slot over the past two seasons. And Gesicki is all the way at 676 in that category.”

▪ At linebacker, PFF rates Benardrick McKinney 20th, noting that “over his career, McKinney has been a very good run defender, able to take on blocks at the point of attack well while holding his own in coverage. He may never become a superstar, but he has been a consistently solid linebacker.”

▪ We hear the Dolphins believe Robert Hunt — who is moving from right tackle — can be a Pro Bowl right guard, and Pro Football Focus already ranks him the 24th-best guard in the league going into the season.

PFF’s assessment: “Arguably the best of the young offensive linemen the Dolphins have,.. his PFF run-blocking grade last year was an impressive 74.0 when playing right tackle, and his pass-blocking was solid. There is reason to believe Miami has it right with their projection, but the unknown keeps Hunt a little lower than he might prove to be worth.”

▪ PFF rates Matt Skura the 26th best center, with this assessment:

“Skura is the favorite to take over the starting center job in Miami. Skura is coming off a disappointing year with Baltimore last season in which he lost his starting job, partially due to back-to-back games with snapping issues. He ended the year with just a 49.1 overall grade. The hope for Miami is that he can get back closer to his 2019 form when he was a middle-of-the-pack starter when healthy [68.7 grade].”

▪ The only other Dolphin mentioned:

PFF ranks Tua Tagovailoa 29th among projected starting quarterbacks, ahead of only the Jets’ Zach Wilson, Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts and Denver’s Drew Lock.

“It’s hard to adjust to the speed of the game as a rookie, especially when you don’t know when you’re going to be pulled for a savvy veteran,” PFF said. “...Tua was exceptionally conservative last year, with only seven big-time throws all season. That’s not the worst thing, but he also had 13 turnover-worthy plays.”

Here’s how to join PFF.

ANOTHER TUA RANKING

NBC’s Chris Simms — who explained to me in a Miami Beach convention center hallway before the February 2020 Super Bowl why Justin Herbert would be a better pro QB than Tagovailoa — rated Tagovailoa 34th among quarterbacks and last among all starters in his QB rankings released this week.

Simms places him just behind Teddy Bridgewater and Drew Lock and ahead of only six QBs: Tyrod Taylor (who likely will start for Houston amid Deshaun Watson’s issues), Marcus Mariota, Kellen Mond, Trey Lance, Justin Fields and Case Keenum.

▪ A couple things we’re hearing: The Dolphins have been very happy with how receiver Albert Wilson looked in the offseason program and are even using him some outside, because Jaylen Waddle projects as their top slot receiver... A player insisted to me that teammates were really impressed with Tagovailoa’s growth this offseason and many on the team believe he’s going to be really good...

Xavien Howard remains adamant about getting more money. The fact others have received new deals (including Jason Sanders, nothing personal) has made him even more dug in. If he doesn’t get a new deal with more money, this could stretch well into August.